Basketball: Start with the Neuroknife

"Lee, watch the news..."

Early the next morning, Li Wan was woken up by Arne Tyron's call, and as he said, he searched for news on his mobile phone.

"It doesn't matter if Phil Jackson is not optimistic, Li Wan: All I have to do is to give a good performance!"

"Confidence! The Chinese rookie talked about the dispute between Kupchak and Phil Jackson, and said that he would give a performance that would satisfy the head coach!"

"Is it self-confidence or arrogance, China's newcomer Li Wan is not afraid to stand on the opposite side of Phil Jackson!"

…

There were only two words left in Li Wan's heart: numb!

What he said at the time meant "be yourself", and when the media interpreted it like this, it became "confident and arrogant" and "not afraid of Phil Jackson"...

To say that this newcomer to the Lakers is indeed a lot of traffic. With the 19th overall pick in the first round, he was stunned to compete with the top 6 rookies in the first round in terms of exposure.

"Have I been Mercury retrograde recently? Why have I encountered some unpleasant things, or did I draw the Jr-Smith card and spent all my recent luck?"

Li Wan did not worry too much about the impact of these reports.

No matter whether he wants to "be yourself" or "be confident", in the end, he has to rely on his strength to prove himself.

Tyron picked him up at his hotel around 8 a.m. and flew from JFK to Los Angeles.

It seemed like it had just rained in Los Angeles, the air was moist, and the wind was nice on the face as I got off the plane.

Los Angeles is located in the southwest of California. Except for December, January, and February, it rarely rains throughout the year, resulting in a very dry climate. People living in Los Angeles will find it difficult to apply moisturizing lotion. go out.

Rain is a blessing here.

"This should be considered a good sign, right?" Li Wan asked.

Tyron nodded: "You can think so."

He called Kupchak and learned that he had time just now, so he drove Li Wan to sign the contract.

The home of the Lakers is Staples Arena, but the usual training and the management office of the Lakers are not there, but at the Toyota Center Arena, which is also invested and constructed by Toyota.

Like the Toyota Center built in Houston in 2002, the venue is divided into three floors, the bottom one and the ground two floors. All kinds of supporting facilities are readily available, including restaurants, drink bars, and fan stores.

However, it not only serves the Los Angeles Lakers, but also the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA and the Los Angeles Kings of the Major League Hockey League are all training in this arena.

What belongs to the Lakers are only two locker rooms in the basement and a few training grounds. Even the general manager's office is a separate office building.

But in Los Angeles, where land is expensive, it's not just the Los Angeles Lakers.

Well, the main thing is that old Buss is not rich enough...

In addition to running the Lakers, the entire Bass family also runs the Los Angeles Sparks who train at the arena.

Just a few days ago, the old Bass had officially listed and wanted to transfer it.

Sparks star Lisa Leslie is pregnant and announced that she will not compete in the WNBA 07~08 season, which means that the team will spend a year with the team.

The WNBA was originally a loss-making business. It missed the WNBA championship in the past few years, and the Sparks' revenue and expenditure situation has not been optimistic. Now it will usher in a year of losing the bottom line. The old Bass finally chose to give up.

He believed it was the same decision he made to move the Lakers from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 1960.

It was also this decision that made him realize that although he owns the Lakers, he is still the Lakers in Los Angeles, with a market value of at least 2 billion, but this is equivalent to his "real estate". In addition, he is very poor.

Therefore, he set his sights on Li Wan, a Chinese man.

How many times has the Chinese market made Alexander's worth, is there any more profitable investment than this?

As for Phil Jackson's dissatisfaction, let him be dissatisfied. And old Bass knew in his heart that this old **** might not really dislike Li Wan.

What he thinks in the end depends on what he will do next.

That's why Bass hated Phil Jackson. He didn't like this kind of staff he couldn't control.

When Li Wan and Tyron arrived, Kupchak had already prepared a contract, a standard rookie contract, fully guaranteed for the first three years, and a team option for the fourth year.

A total of 5.84 million in 4 years.

Li Wan's annual salary in the first year was 1.29 million. Generally, it is issued monthly for 1 year and 12 months.

Advance payments are also possible, up to a maximum of 60% of the total salary. This is to avoid those super giants requiring a one-time payment of 20 million in salary, which will cause problems with the team's operating funds.

After carefully looking at the terms and conditions of the contract, after confirming that there was no problem, Li Wan signed his name on it. After signing the contract, he handed the contract to Kupchak, who looked at him with a smile, and he asked, "I Can I advance 3 months' salary in advance?"

Arne Taylor paid for the various expenses for trial training before the draft, about 30,000 yuan. And his 3% cut of 38,700 models, totaling 70,000 yuan.

He also rented a secure apartment near the Toyota Center and Staples Arena. The rent for two months was nearly 10,000 yuan.

In addition, UU reading www.uukanshu.com The rental house in Los Angeles is a rental house, and you need to buy all the household facilities and equipment in it, and you have to buy a car for transportation.

His salary of 107,500 yuan for the first month alone is not enough for these expenses, not to mention that Li Wanxia also needs special training, which is also a money-burning project.

Kupchak happily signed a check for 330,000 and handed it to Li Wan.

"By the way, I need to confirm with you, are you going to play summer league?"

"certainly!"

Li Wan did not hesitate.

Phil Jackson's attitude is unclear, and he needs some performance to fight for his place in training camp.

The performance of the summer league itself may be of little reference value, but it is also good to have more impressions.

"OK, then before July 10, remember to report to the team. Of course, if you want to go to Las Vegas by yourself, you can also contact Phil Handy at that time."

Kupchak handed him Phil Handy's business card. It says "Lakers Chief Assistant Coach." He is the head coach of the Lakers Summer League this time.

Li Wan accepted the business card and left the office with Tyron.

As soon as he left the arena, he asked Tyron to contact him with the training venue. Today is June 26, and there is almost half a month before July 10.

He needs to make a round of promotion first in this half month.

Summer League is where fringe players and undrafted players fight for two-way contracts, and he doesn't expect anyone to be willing to play with him, pass the ball or anything like that.

He's not going to summer league to show off his defensive abilities either.

Therefore, in the next 14 days, the two aspects of his special training are the ability to hold the ball and the ability to shoot.